It was two weeks that shocked the world, and two weeks that shook -- and changed -- Russia.

A wave of terror that launched a war. And a wave of fear and anger that made a president.

Seventeen years ago this week, a series of apartment bombings in Moscow, Buynaksk, and Volgodonsk commenced, killing nearly 300 people and altering the course of Russian history.

On this week's Power Vertical Podcast, we look back at the dramatic, frightening, and disturbing events of September 1999 and ask: What do they tell us about Vladimir Putin's Russia today?

Joining me are co-host Mark Galeotti, a senior research fellow at the Institute of International Relations in Prague and a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations; veteran Kremlin-watcher Donald Jensen, a former U.S. State Department official and currently a fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations in the Nitze School of International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; and David Satter, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of two books about the 1999 apartment bombings, Darkness at Dawn and the recently published The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep.

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About This Blog

The Power Vertical is a blog written especially for Russia wonks and obsessive Kremlin watchers by Brian Whitmore. It offers Brian's personal take on emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today. Check out The Power VerticalFacebookpage or Follow @PowerVertical